them about ten days, the thaw came and I was able to find them plenty
to do.

We suffered very little from droughts at Aldington, the land was
naturally so retentive of moisture, but 1893 was a dry year, not
easily forgotten; no rain fell from early in March to July 13; the hay
crop was the lightest in remembrance, and straw was so short and
scarce that the hay-ricks of the following year, 1894, had to go
unthatched until the harvest of that year provided the necessary
straw.

The spring of 1895 was remarkable for a plague of the caterpillars of
the winter-moth, due to the destruction of insect-eating birds by the
great frost; the caterpillars devoured the young leaves of the
plum-trees, so that whole orchards were completely stripped. The
balance between insectivorous birds and caterpillar life was destroyed
for a time, and the caterpillars conquered the plum-trees. In 1917,
during the persistent north-east blasts of February, March, and part
of April, the destruction of birds was terrible; all the tit tribe
suffered greatly, and the charming little golden-crested wren, which
here in the Forest was quite common, has scarcely been seen since.
Caterpillars again were a plague in my apple trees that spring, but
were not really destructive, and in the autumn the apples escaped
their usual punishment from the birds and wasps. Tits are often very
troublesome; they peck holes in the fruit, apparently in search of the
larvae of the codlin moth, leaving an opening for wasps and flies. I
find the berries of the laurel, which is a species of cherry, very
attractive to blackbirds, and as long as there are any left they seem
to prefer them to the apples. In 1895 cuckoos came to the rescue of my
young plum orchard; there were dozens of them at work on the nine